Canada Opens Investigation Into AI Company Behind ChatGPT

Canada announced that it has commenced an investigation into ChatGPT, the popular artificial intelligence chatbot created by the US-based software company, OpenAI.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner claimed the agency was prompted to commence the investigation into OpenAI after alleged “complaint on the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information without consent.”

OpenAI’s chatbot, which was introduced in November, utilizes web data to deliver in-depth responses to users’ questions. The chatbot has received and still receiving loads of buzzes. When ChatGPT was introduced last year, it created a sensation around the world because of its capacity to produce essays, songs, examinations, and even news pieces from brief prompts. Yet, critics have long argued how ChatGPT and its rivals acquired their data or how they processed it.

ChatGPT has severely been referred to as a potential rival to Google’s search engine. The chatbot has enjoyed massive funding from software giant Microsoft, which has since integrated the tool into numerous of its businesses. The Canadian regulator’s action is in response to mounting concerns for increased regulation of AI-powered technology.

Hundreds of international experts and billionaire Elon Musk, who founded OpenAI but is no longer on the board, have called for a six-month pause in research on AI systems more potent than GPT-4, the most recent version of the software on which ChatGPT is based. This call was a result of the “profound risks to society and humanity” the tool may likely bring. However, due to worries about data usage, Italy became the first nation in the West to restrict ChatGPT on Friday.

Recently, the European police organization Europol issued a warning that fraud and other cybercrimes are about to become easier for criminals to commit owing to artificial intelligence tools like chatbots.